Lachung,
situated in the northern district of Sikkim is a beautiful village, secluded
from the chaotic city lifestyles has its own exclusivity. Lachung is at an elevation
of about 9,600 ft or 3,000 m and at the confluence of theLachen RiverandLachung Rivers, tributaries of theRiver Teesta. The word Lachung means "small pass". There was a period when
this place was not opened to the tourists due to its traditional and customary
importance. But, in the recent period, Lachung has been made available to them
to explore the culture and custom of the indigenous. It will not be wrong to
argue that, Lachung, the place of mystic mountains is a de-facto Shangri-La. Before the annexation ofTibetin 1950, Lachung was a trading post between Sikkim and
Tibet, after which it was closed down.Lachung
has been described as the "most picturesque village of Sikkim" byBritishexplorerJoseph Dalton Hookerin his famous work,The Himalayan Journal.

Lachung Pipon with his Horse Pic:Dr. Alice S. Kandell 1971 May

Lachung Pipon with Children Pic:Dr. Alice S Kandell 1971 May

Approximating its exquisiteness, the village
has atypical hamlet institution known as Dzumsa.
Dzumsais a
traditional administrative body of the villages ofLachenandLachunginNorth Sikkim. It is a
self-government system where a headman, known as the 'Pipon', is elected and the community where all the disputes are
settled in a democratic manner. The system of governance is traditional and
follows the tribal social organizational position which is entirely different, unique
and to some extent more democratic than the PanchayatiRaj institution prevalent in other districts
of Sikkim. The traditional village level organisation consists of the elders of
every household of the village including women and Lamas. It resembles some
features of the village governance prevalent in the Vedic Age known as Sabha and Samiti. Two persons are elected from amongst the members of the Dzumsa as the Pipons. They are assisted in their daily affairs by the Lamas known
as Chutimpas. The Pipons have wide powers and functions in
accordance with the customary laws. The Dzumsa
conferred verdict for all the cases including major ones in the villages of
Lachen and Lachung. It is important to mention here that, the term of the
office of Dzumsa is fixed for one
year and after accomplishing its term the office has to be dissolved and a
fresh election is to be conducted for the smoother functioning of the village
institution.

GYEL-PE-LETSEN-CHOBGYAL:

Gyel Pe Letsen Chobgyal is a
Committee comprised of eighteen senior members of Lachung Valley including five
monastery representatives. The committee
takes charges after the completion of the term of the elected Pipons. They remained active and execute
most of the duties, earlier executed by the elected Pipons until the new Pipon
is elected. This system of self-governance was established during the first
half of the 19th century in order to provide structure and solidity for
societies and their activities. Even after the merger of Sikkim with India the
traditional system of Dzumsa is still prevalent in North Sikkim.

Document
plays a vital role for the construction of History; devoid of it, history tastes
more story than a factual account. While undertaking field survey, I had been
able to gather few documents related to the monarchical Sikkim which are not
only rare but are atypical in their own ways. These peasant related documents are not available
in any of the collections or in achieve of the State of Sikkim. The documents
posted here belong to one Nar Dhoj Limboo of Rabitar Namchi, whose family was
shifted to Chota Singtam in East Sikkim during pre Second World War period. These
days the family of the said person is residing at the same village of Chota
Singtam where Nar Dhoj Limboo found asylum against the recurrent feudal
pressure. The once exiled family of Namchi has preserved many documents related
to the feudal Sikkim that provide a broader space for the peasants’ history of
Sikkim to dwell in. The oldest document which is maintained by the family of
Mr. Harka Bahadur Limboo aka Khukurey Bajey of Chota Singtam, East Sikkim belonged to the year
1922. This document is a tax receipt paid by his father Nar Dhoj to the Mandal Kul
Bahadur Chettri of Sadam Ilakha on 31st
December 1922. Likewise, one can notice such proof of payments of the subsequent
years till 1936 before they got shifted to Chota Singtam. The striking features
of such receipts are the utilization of personal seals of the Thikadars by the
village Mandals instead of the Lal Mohur
or Royal Seals. The position and status of the Thikadars and the Kazis in
the feudalistic Sikkim are evident from the use of such personal Seals. The Thikadar of Sadam Ilakha used to be a Nepali, who was a Newar by caste. Therefore,
their seals bear an icon of a half moon (Ardha
Chandra) and Nepali remark of Shree.
But, there is a gradual change in the use of such seals. In a receipt issued by
Mandal Wangdu Lepcha of Sadam village to the same person on 31st
December 1932 bears mark of a rubber round seal that inscribes Moti Chand
Pradhan, Turuk Ilakha Sikkim. Again, some
of the receipts of the 50’s and 60’s have the earlier features.

A receipt of the membership fee of Sikkim State Congress

Tax receipt of 1933 (post World War I and Pre World War II)

The most important document maintained by Mr. Harka
Bahadur Limboo is indeed the membership certificate of the Sikkim National
Congress. The membership fee to the earliest peasant organization of Sikkim was
made by a person named Man Bahadur Limboo, possibly, one of the brothers of Nar
Dhoj Limboo. The receipt confirms that the latter made a payment of 50 Paise (Aath Anna) to secure membership of the said organization. It also
bears signature of the Joint Secretary of the Sikkim State Congress (probably
of Namchi District) Mr. Kali Prasad Rai. Further, many receipts of Kuts and Adhia methods of revenue assessment are also preserved by him.

The information about the family of Nar Dhoj Limboo and
the documents were acquired during field survey on 21st January 2012

Nga Dak Monastery is situated 2 Kms above
Namchi that offers substantiation about the early Namgyals in a most voluminous
manner. It was primarily constructed as a palace for the most disastrous
Princess of Sikkim Pende Ongmo (Pendi Wangmoo) by King Chagdor Namgyal (Tensung
Namgyal?) in or around 1700 AD. This edifice has tolerated two major jolts in
the recent years and amidst nudges, the structure is yet standing and updating the
times of yore of the early Sikkim in general and the Namgyals in particular. Nga
Dak is a Tibetan word that corresponds to “promise”. Apart from abhorrence, the
monastery also symbolises a struggle for supremacy between Princess Pende
Ongmoo and Chagdor Namgyal that took place in the 2nd decade of the
18th century.

King Chagdor Namgyal succeeded his father
Tensung Namgyal at the age of 14 in 1700 AD. Soon after his succession, trouble
arose between him and his half sister Pendi Ongmoo, who claimed that she was
entitled to the throne. Pendi Ongmoo, whose mother was a Bhutanese,
approached her maternal relatives for help and invited Bhutanese force to attack
Sikkim to evict her brother. As a sequel to this, the Bhutanese attacked
Rhabdentse, the then Capital of Sikkim and the areas adjoining to the Capital
remained under Bhutanese for more than seven years. The young King was rescued
by Yugthing Teshi, a loyal Councillor who took him to Lhasa via Elam and Walong
in Nepal. The King remained in Tibet for eight years leaving everything rampant
in his Kingdom.

Room where Pende Ongmoo was executed

Chagdor returned to Sikkim accompanied by a
Tibetan named Jigmed Pao and began to consolidate his position in Sikkim by
driving out the Bhutanese elements from Sikkimese territories. Under the guidance
of Lama Jigmed Pao, Chagdor accomplished the construction of Pemiongchi
monastery, one of the oldest and most famous monasteries in Sikkim. The monastery
consisted of 108 monks including the Raja himself who was an ardent Buddhist. The
most significant works of Chagdor Namgyal include Changa-Yig, a book on
monastic discipline, Rong-Chham, a religious dance in the honour of the Takpoo
or war like demons and he is also credited of the designing of Lepcha
alphabets.

An old wooden printing system preserved at Nga Dag

Pendi Ongmoo, the King’s half sister
however, was not solaced and the anomaly between them continued and culminated
into a crisis. She conspired with a Tibetan physician to kill the King and to
secure her position on the Sikkimese throne. During a visit to Ralong hot
spring in 1717, Pende Ongmoo insisted the physician to open the main artery of
the King which eventually caused the death of Chagdor Namgyal. After the death of the King, a force was sent to Namchi to execute the princess. The doctor was granted a fierce death by the Sikkimese ministers. Likewise Pende Ongmoo was put to death with a silk scarf inside a room of the Nga Dak palace.The place
is also known as Pende Lhaptse and it needs a serious attention of the concerned officials for its preservation.